Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

Prasant Naidu at Lighthouse Insights reports that after a successful start on Twitter, the Indian Army has recently joined Facebook. This is a welcome move as last year the Indian Army had issued orders asking all personnel — both officers and other ranks — to stop using social networking sites like Facebook or Orkut.

Does the absence of women in public spaces makes these spaces safer for women?

The above comment is made by the blogger at The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker, who is outraged by the decision of the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, to ban women from pubs after 10 pm claiming that it would keep them safe.

Online journalism and news portals are gaining popularity in Nepal as evident in Surath Giri's list of 20 online newspapers. However, according to reports, the Ministry of Information and Communications of Nepal has recently formed a five-member committee to register, regulate and manage online news.

Mehwish khan at ProPakistani compiles a list of sites which are providing live updates and results of the Pakistan general elections 2013.

Ujjwal Acharya tells a sad story of a Nepali migrant worker who was denied to board onwards by Air Arabia at Delhi airport because she did not have a return ticket. They did not offer any food or accommodation for 72 hours until she managed her fare back home from that transit point. She is one of many migrant workers who are regularly exploited by different quarters.

Siromani Dhungana at United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal highlights rising cruelty to animals in the Nepali capital Kathmandu and questions how long it will continue.

Pakistan-based Internet access advocacy group Bolobhi releases a timeline with details of the 12 times mobile services were suspended in the country since April 2012.

More »

The death toll of the factory collapse in Savar, Bangladesh has risen to 290. Here is a live blog [bn] maintained by the Muktaangon blogging platform curating social media updates on the latest on the relief and rescue effort of the trapped workers inside the collapsed building.

Big government leads to corruption. Corruption leads to bad governance. Bad governance gives rise to mass poverty.

Atanu Dey argues that India is not doomed to be poor due to factors outside its control. It needs good governance.

Rikku Dhan Subba is concerned about the growing alcoholism in Bhutan, which is creating problems in many families and societies.

At 7:15pm, the low buzz of a drone was heard overheard. Seconds later, an enormous explosion engulfed the area, destroying the boat and several nearby homes. Sources say 46 Watertown residents were killed in the missile strike, including 12 children.

……

Of course, that's not what happened. But if it did, wouldn't we find it unconscionable? If so, then why are Americans okay with our government doing this to people in other countries?

A hypothetical narration of a drone targeting the Boston Marathon bombing suspect in Watertown by an American Facebook user based in San Francisco, has gone viral amongst Pakistani Facebook users. Within 24 hours the post was shared more than 5000 times and generated hundreds of comments.

More »

Chowrangi blog reports that considering the deteriorating law and order situation and pre-election violence the Election Commission of Pakistan has allowed candidates to keep five civilian bodyguards with licensed arms during the ongoing Election 2013 campaign.

Raza Habib Raja at Pak Tea House describes how another Christian colony had been attacked in Gujranwala, Punjab in Pakistan using the same rhetoric – revenge for alleged “Insult to Islam”.

In a podcast at mylaw.net legal practitioner Namita Wahi talked about the paradox of the fundamental right to property in the Indian Constitution and how to deal with it.

Raza Rumi at jahane Rumi discusses about the strong possibility of violence during the impending Pakistan 2013 elections.

Sunanda Deshapriya at Groundviews opines that “the judicial case related to the violent attack on Muslim owned Fashion Bug head office and warehouse in Pepiliyana, 10 km away from Colombo, is destined to be a turning point in Muslim Rights in Sri Lanka.”

Satirist Bassem Youssef tweets:

A new investigation started against me accusing me of: insulting Islam(again), spreading atheism & insulting Pakistan #LOL

He was recently accused of insulting Islam and Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in his TV programme El Bernameg [The Programme]. The court rejected the lawsuit.

Sri Lankan blogger Indi Samarajiva explains why Bodu Bala Sena, a hardline Buddhist organization, is gaining popularity in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan blogger Patta Pal Boru opines that the majority religion in a country is a curse as the simple weight of the established religion (inertia) gets people thinking about the wrongs rather than the rights favoring the fringe or the other religions.

Blogger Mizohican from Mizoram, India has invited a Mumbai police officer who mistook him for a Nepali and used a xenophobic slur at him for drinks to talk things out.

Screenshot of “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Drone strikes and deaths since 2004 in Pakistan by Pitch Interactive

More »

Aminul Islam Sajib reports that Google featured Bangladeshi National Flag as a Doodle on the occasion of the Independence Day of Bangladesh (26th March, 1971) which was a long time demand from Bangladeshi netizens.

Nepal’s political parties have again failed to respect the people's mandate to elect a prime minister and instead have installed Chief Justice (CJ) Khila Raj Regmi as the head executive (chairman of the interim electoral council of ministers). Shiromani Dhungana at United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal writes about the predicted political crisis of the country.

In recent months continuous strikes (Hartal) by political parties have paralyzed Bangladesh. A number of Facebook users have had enough and called for a Facebook strike on 23rd of March 2013 from 9:00pm until 10:00pm (UTC+07) protesting the strikes.

The blog on India's Gendercide posts a video which shows shocking stats of bride trafficking, the Indian version of domestic sex-trafficking.

Ibrahim ‘Aswad’ Waheed, Head of News of Raaje TV, an independent television channel, was attacked by unidentified persons recently in the Maldivian capital Male. Maldivian journalists joined in protests demanding press freedom and protection of journalists which can be seen in pictures at photo-blogger Bug's blog.

On January 23, 2013, an excerpt from the annual report of l'ACAT-France, A World of Torture 2013, makes a fresh assessment of the state of torture in the world [fr]:

“A report called A World of Torture in 2013, assesses torture practices that continue to be alarming, from Pakistan to Italy, by way of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bolivia. From authoritarian regimes to democratic countries, none are exempt from criticism on the topic. In 2013, torture remains as endemic, omnipresent and multi-faceted as ever”.

In recent months blocking of urls has been much debated in India. Nikhil Pahwa at MediaNama, who is not fond of blocking content on the Internet, suggests how India should approach website blocking.

Gaurav Mishra explains social curation and describes how Media, organizations and brands can curate contents to drive social engagement.

Surath Giri compiles a list of top 10 popular Nepali blogs according to Alexa statistics.